If only one single class in an RPG with multiple classes can counter an ability, then that ability is overpowered.
I don't think overpowered is the correct term...uninteractive is the more apt term by which to critique the design. Something can be uninteractive but not very powerful. Imagine a spell buff that can only be brought down by a casting of Delayed-Blast Firebal; it resists all other methods of dispelling, even powerful antimagic. It's incredibly narrow, but there's numerous conceivable effects by which it would not be overpowered (e.g. immunity to cold damage, +5% max HP, etc).
I'll make the assumption that your critique is more aimed at the Conjuration/Abjuration-based protective spells (as Illusion magic could be handled by everyone but Fighters) used by Mages in BG2. There's no denying that those protections, barring consumables, can only be taken down by Mages (Inquisitors and higher-level Priests can overwhelm them with Dispel Magic, but lack the pinpoint countermeasures). But these aren't terribly difficult to work around in most situations. Stoneskins can be quickly shredded by high Attacks-Per-Round, the Mantle spells are very short duration affairs (and only Absolute Immunity really protects against a decently-equipped party), and the Spell Absorption/Turning/Deflection/Immunity spells pretty much only exist to protect Mages from enemies versed in the arcane arts themselves. It somewhat restricts Divine casters, who have a lot less targeted offensive magic, but is completely inconsequential for Fighters and Thieves.
The biggest pain-in-the-ass is when Liches or Mariliths cast Protection From Magical Weapons, because their innate immunities overlap with the spell making any weapon classes (that aren't packing Carsomyr) feel utterly useless. But that's more a fault of stacking innate immunities on things in order to make them more difficult, a type of design I'm not terribly fond of (but Black Isle and Sawyer sure were in the Icewind Dale series
).
Other than that, Abjuration/Conjuration-based shields aren't really all that "overpowered" despite the fact that only Mages can fully (and "innately") interact with them; they just don't do If you really want an example of something from BG2 being overpowered through uninteractivity look no further than Time Stop. That's stupidly overpowered because it's entire schtick is to render the opponent unable to respond in any way and it fuels the vast majority of retarded cheese in BG2 (Wish and the Pocket Plane are extremely close seconds). Outside of a few ways of interrupting it, there's nothing an opponent can do against it no matter what class they are.
Your ability to conduct teh awesome mage duels in BG2 would not be harmed if fighters had some abilities to help them cope with mages.
They do have plenty of ways to "cope" with mages. They just aren't all that great at it and have to rely on either items, kit abilities (hello Wizard Slayer), or tactics that allow them to play around the Mage abilities. Or enlist the help of the rest of the party; it's a class-based system designed for parties, you can't ask for too much.
And trying to make every class able to interact at a high level with any given ability/strategy could very well lead to homogenization/ of gameplay and kill diversity of options as streamlined mechanics are
much easier to balance for or around. It took me awhile to make the (now) obvious connection, but a lot of Sawyer's philosophy sounds similar to Wizards of the Coast "New World Order" design implemented in Magic: the Gathering.
They wanted to balance the game out and make it so decks/colors would have more direct interaction with one another which, to put it short, led to a whole lot of good mechanics getting the axe and the majority of gameplay being relegated to the In-Play Zone (I'm still butthurt about some of the M10 rules terminology sounding so shitty; "Battlefield", really?). in the most boring way. Standard Constructed (Type 2) basically consists of Aggro and a spectrum of "goodstuff" decks that goes from Midrange to "Control" but all play very similarly; drop dudes that have good bodies and give card advantage while playing really powerful Instants/Sorceries. Gone are the days of many interesting decks with unique playstyles and internal logics...now we have "balance" and "interactivity" with a bunch of decks that all tend to fit into the same playstyle. At least Wizards hasn't managed to kill Legacy...yet. They certainly keep trying (oh a 3CMC pro-everything in Blue that happens to be a merfolk
).
And that's what my issue with Sawyerism is. It's not the principles in as much that said principles are hard to follow while maintaining other elements that contribute to the quality of the game. When you make balance such a priority it comes with a cost; other elements may suffer and certain player demographics won't appreciate this trade-off...demographics likely well represented on fair Codexia.
It also doesn't help that while Sawyer talks a big game, he has very little to show for it. Doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
IWD 1 and 2 had some great battles with enemy spellcasters, I wrote about them in my articles.
IWD1 was pretty poor in this regard. Spellcasters were few in number and most were incredibly vulnerable; rarely did they come in groups and even when they did, their frailty couldn't be overlooked. Malavon is about the only mage who can survive a "LOLFIREBALLS" alpha-strike and he's basically just Davaeorn (guy who pre-buffs and teleports from BG1) with Iron Golems instead of Battle Horrors. BG1 generally did a much better job solely because it had a lot more casters throughout the game and often battles against them would be "forced" encounters where you couldn't get the drop. Still Wands, Oils of Fiery Burning, and other instant-speed casts could quickly shred them and was almost always the right move to make.
IWD2 did a lot better job of dispersing spellcasters throughout the game, but they still were incredibly fragile without all of the proprietary mechanics BG2 grafted on to defend casters (and the"cheaty" scripts that would allow certain casters to pre-buff). The correct play was always to hit them hard with everything you could, likely from your own casters and there was nothing most enemies could do about it. Casters that also happened to be liches, avatars, dragons, beholders, or demons could prevail against alpha strikes with their innate staying power, but your average mage/priest was a damage magnet.
This style of design worked in certain Gold Box encounters and Knights of the Chalice, but only because the scale of the fights. Often you would be up against large quantities of enemies spread out over an area where an alpha-strike was impossible; offensive magic was neither numerous enough nor able to impact enough of the battlefield. Some spells were simply going to get through no matter how well your party handled it's first actions because of the sheer volume of enemies that could sling magic (not to mention, such fights could also have multiple demons/dragons/vampires/beholders you wanted to remove).
What do you think of the updates you've seen so far?
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